Gonna be a hectic few days

4/17/07 Tuesday
I’ll start with thoughts of condolence and sorrow regarding the Virginia massacre. I turned off the news this morning as I have no interest in the gory details of this. That is like people rubbernecking as they drive past a nasty wreck on the highway. I feel for the family members who will be subjected to much attention and will not be able to escape the visions of this catastrophe as the media digs into and airs every morbid aspect.

Things will be rushed today as we prepare to drive to Albuquerque tomorrow. In addition to all that we have many things that are now possible to take care of because of the funds received from selling the coin collection. We can pay the cell phone bill which also is our internet access. Cherie can get a new pair of jeans and the bra’s she so desperately needs. Included in that will be one without the under wire so she will have less trouble passing through security when she flies to Toledo. She will be leaving on the twentieth, just three days away. We are finally able to send some money to our attorney who helped so much in getting this estate settled and preventing us from being railroaded into selling the land. He has been gracious in his patience.

Maybe I’ll get some fertilizer and perhaps even seeds that are not years old like the ones we were given by the generous lady from the Homestead forum. She said they were old and may not all come up so that’s fine. About 20% have generated and we look forward to seeing how they do. When we stopped by the FSA office Nestor told us that coyotes love to eat melons and know when they are ripe. He did say that people shoot them and made no mention of them being protected. Perhaps we will be able to purchase a gun now. I’ll ask Janie if she knows of any that might be bought for a low price. If I were in Toledo I could get all kinds of guns but they probably wouldn’t be legal and I won’t even think of playing with that. Those days are gone and will stay that way. That brings a thought. Where did this Korean student who killed so many in Virginia get two handguns? They are not allowed to own weapons in the US. The kid who shot out our well is a Canadian here on a work visa and is also not to own a weapon yet was running around with an assault rifle. Kind of scary.

So it’s going to be a hectic few days. I E-mailed pastor Dave yesterday regarding how we feel like outsiders. He will be glad to sit down with us but with our schedules that won’t happen quickly. I’ll talk with him after Cherie leaves for Ohio. He said he was sorry we found the congregation unfriendly. They have been real friendly but from arms length away. I guess we are outsiders from the standpoint of coming from up north. I suppose our thinking we would be welcomed into the fold as in the days of old were not realistic and perhaps a little delusional. But Leroy, our well guy, has invited us to drop in for coffee and he has a bunch of preserves his wife made that he would like me to stop in and pick up. Carroll (not sure how to spell it) and his wife have also been open in their welcome and he’s a stranger who I had approached to ask about some shelving and a building he owns. Then there are some of y’all in the blogosphere who have also opened up to us. While we appreciated the generosity some have shown what we appreciated much more was just having folks to talk with. You can feed the body but feeding the spirit is much more beneficial.

I’ve got much to do for I am again feeling well and must take advantage of it for I never know how long it will last. I was already out with a rake breaking up the crust that forms with the soil out here when it gets wet. That allows water to get through as well as making it less difficult for a seedling to break through to the surface. As I learn I can see where a good mix of compost in the soil will prevent this from happening even if the compost has little nutritional value. I read a lot about putting mulch over the surface to help retain moisture and reduce the weeds but don’t know if you do that before the seeds come up or after. I welcome any advice on that.

Time to get back out there before it gets warmer.

I am extremely tired now though it is only 2:00. Of course this about the time I often must take a nap. Have been looking up the seeds I have, online, to learn how each one should be planted. From my typing speed I can tell I have slowed down. Many times I seem to be unaware of this till I have a conversation or write, then it becomes clearly evident. Cherie just called and is on the way home. Wasn’t sure about where to put commas on the sentence about looking up seeds. Getting dizzy with ringing ears now so that’s it, gonna lay down.

That was a bad one, lost another day. This seizure came with a migraine. I stayed in bed till 6:30 and only got up because preacher Bill called to see if it was a convenient time for him to come over and look at the jewelry we had. It was a good time no matter how I felt. The jewelry was mostly costume stuff and had all belonged to my mother. She was the first woman to hold a seat in the Chicago Commodities Exchange. Mom had also started a jewelry company to sell the items she created which were mostly specific to the commodities industry. There were several pieces that Larry had given me not realizing there was any value in them. He kept the gold but much of what he “let” me have was sterling silver. We were surprised when we found out how much it was worth. This will allow Cherie a little spending cash when she goes to Toledo. To celebrate we went into Midland and ate out.

We went to Rosa’s because they have what they call “Taco Tuesday” where a taco meal is real cheap. For us that was a treat. Gone are the days of fine dining where we might spend a hundred bucks on a meal. Cherie had never really had such a dining experience till we got back together. That was when I received the two years of back disability payments that came when I was finally approved. I took her to some of the places I had frequented when I had my two companies and was used to this level of living. It was great to see the wonder on her face during these times.

I was still real slow so let Cherie know she must drive. In fact, when Bill came over I explained to him what was going on so he would understand why my speech was slow and that it would take me a while to understand and follow what was going on. Telling him it was like being stoned I said “It’s hard to believe I used to spend money to get this way”.

We will be getting up at 3:00 tomorrow morning to be on the road to Albuquerque by 4:00. We need to get to the VA hospital by 12:30 for my appointment at the neurology department. Maybe they will be able to reduce these slow downs. I still have a headache. Those don’t usually last this long. Gotta get some sleep so good night all.